Elizabeth Davies: Perception vs. reality -- breastfeeding is OK

Q: A teen girl walks through the food court at the mall. Her pants are so low-cut that it’s obvious she isn’t wearing any underwear. Inappropriate or acceptable?

Elizabeth Davies

Q: A teen girl walks through the food court at the mall. Her pants are so low-cut that it’s obvious she isn’t wearing any underwear.

Inappropriate or acceptable?

Q: The woman ringing up your purchases at the corner store is wearing a shirt that’s so revealing, it’s possible a stiff wind will blow the thing right out of there.

Inappropriate or acceptable?

Q: A mother is holding a crying baby in a restaurant booth. She lifts her shirt just enough to offer the baby her breast, and the child’s head covers any exposed skin.

Inappropriate or acceptable?

Too often, women in today’s society are condemned for feeding their children in public. Despite overwhelming health benefits for both mother and baby, the act of breast-feeding still carries a social stigma.

Here are a few of the perceptions surrounding breastfeeding:

Perception: Women shouldn’t nurse in public.

Reality: By Illinois law, women are allowed to nurse their children anywhere they would otherwise be allowed to be. That means that, should a mother want to nurse while standing in the middle of the mall on the busiest shopping day of the year, she has the legal right to do it.

Perception: Nursing in public is lewd and inappropriate.

Reality: There’s nothing sexual about nursing a child. It is, without dispute, the most natural and healthiest way to feed a baby. If you can’t look at breasts as something other than a sexual object, it’s time to spend more time learning to respect and honor the women around you. Breasts were created to feed children, not to entertain men.

Perception: Nursing is OK for newborns, but it’s weird when the kid gets older.

Reality: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastmilk for the first year of a child’s life. Yup, that’s after she has teeth, when she’s walking or crawling and long after she’s started on table foods.

Perception: A nursing mother could very easily put a blanket over herself.

Reality: Blankets aren’t always available. They’re often hot. Some babies just won’t keep them on. And replacing a blanket one-handed while trying not to drop your baby is pretty darned difficult.

Perception: Mothers who nurse in public are trying to cause trouble.

Reality: If a mother really wanted to irritate the people around her, she would let her hungry baby scream. Instead, she’s giving the baby what he needs in a quiet way. And besides, very few mothers who just went through nine months of pregnancy are particularly eager to show off their bodies to the world. They’re just doing what needs to be done.

Perception: Nursing mothers just “whip it out” in front of God and everyone.

Reality: OK, so we’ve all heard the stories about moms who walked around with their entire breasts showing while feeding their children. But those moms are in the minority.

Most breastfeeding mothers simply look as though they are holding a baby. Chances are, you’ve passed a breast-feeding mother in the aisle at Target or on a bench at the park and not even realized what she was doing.

Perhaps if you caught the mother at the right angle, if the baby moved its head or if you stared really hard, you might see a flash of skin. Turn away, just as you would if a woman walked by with her skirt accidentally tucked into her pantyhose.

Perception: Women who breast-feed in public are offending those around them.

Reality: People who smell, wear their clothes too tight and learned their table manners in a barnyard offend me, but I don’t see anyone telling them to leave.

Elizabeth Davies’ column runs Thursdays in People of the Rock River Valley.